Fleury-Mérogis Prison

Fleury-Mérogis Prison (Maison d'arrêt de Fleury-Mérogis) is a prison in France, located in the town of Fleury-Mérogis, in the southern suburbs of Paris. With 3,800 prisoners, it is the largest prison in Europe^[1] .^[2] It is operated by the Ministry of Justice.

History

Built between 1964 and 1968, the 180 acres (0.73 km²) complex of Fleury-Mérogis comprises four entities:

• a large men's jail;
• a smaller women's jail;
• a juveniles' jail;
• Gendarmerie barracks.

The main prison is formed by a polygonal central building from which radiate five blocks, each one consisting of three wings with four levels of cells. Each block has a capacity of 900 prisoners.

Fleury-Mérogis is one of the three main prisons of the Paris area, the Fresnes Prison (the second largest in France) and the La Santé Prison (located in the centre of Paris) being the other two.

Famous Inmates

Some famous past and present prisoners:

• Jacques Mesrine
• Joëlle Aubron and Georges Cipriani (members of Action directe revolutionary group)
• Thierry Paulin
• Christine Deviers-Joncour (protagonist of the Elf scandal)
• Pascal Payet (still imprisoned)
• Zouzou (for recreational drug use)
• Sinik (condemned four times)

Notes

External links

• Fleury-Mérogis - Etablissement pénitentiaire - maison d'arrêt - Ministry of Justice of France (French)